Getting New Tires? Why You Need The Wheels Aligned
When you are getting ready to buy new tires, the auto shop may tell you that you need a wheel alignment with the installation. While you may think this a way to upsell you on a service you do not need, know that a wheel alignment is very important any time you have new tires installed on your car or have them rotated. It is even more important if you are only having a couple tires replaced rather than all four. Here are some reasons why you need that wheel alignment.
Improved Vehicle Handling
One of the obvious ways that your car will suffer without a wheel alignment is how it handles on the road. You will typically notice this due to the vehicle pulling off to one side of the road when your hands are off the wheel. Not only does it require you to pay more attention to how you are driving, but increases the likelihood that you'll get into an accident.
You'll also notice the car will cause a rough ride when driving. There could be vibrations coming through the steering wheel, rattling, and other unpleasantness that is all due to the wheels not being aligned.
Improved Tire Wear
Not getting a wheel alignment will also put more wear on your car's tires. It will cause the need to replace your tires sooner rather than later due to the damage that was caused.
The problem with unaligned wheels is that there will be noticeable uneven wear across all 4 tires. You will notice it if you run your hands across the tires and feel that they are not even across the tire tread. This is due to one part of the tire making more contact with the road, and can potentially cause a tire to blow out while you are driving. The tire may look perfectly fine at first glance, but all it takes is for the tire to wear thin in a single spot for an accident to happen.
Improved Fuel Efficiency
When the wheels of a car are aligned, your tires will roll down the road much easier due to less resistance. This all plays into how fuel efficient your car is, since your car will consume less fuel when there is the least amount of resistance when driving. This can only happen if the tires are completely parallel to each other, which can be accomplished with a wheel alignment.